2008 BMW 320D in Germany.. good car?

[rattlsnak]

Friend of mine is moving to Germany for two years and needs to pick up a daily driver. Guy who he is replacing wants to sell him a 2008 320D with @85K miles in the $11K Euro range. Is that a good price, and is that a decent car?? I dont know anything about BMW diesels..

[gduke2010]

It's a good car with a bulitproof engine. But, $11,000 dollars would be a fair price. Not sure what the conversion is.

[gduke2010]

11,000 Euros might be high. Are you sure you the car has 85k miles and not 85 kilometers. Than the 11k Euros would be a fair price

[regency]

well, I would not have a modern BMW with out the extended warrantee & maintenance pkg. Just sayin.

I sold mine just before all that expired.

Steve

[Peterfrans]

A 320d E90 is a nice car, fuel efficient, reasonably quick and produced in very large numbers. I have had several and most were trouble free. The price is not very good however, at that mileage and age you can find a lot of cars at a lower price. There is also the issue of several german cities planning bans on older diesels (stuttgart for instance), so he might also want to look into that problem. I he needs to drive into city centres often (stuttgart, hamburg etc), then a gasoline car might be a better solution.

[Peterfrans]

also, be aware that the x20d engine of that age is known for distribution chain problems. Lot's of options when he gets there, so no need to jump on this offer

[sc_rufctr]

What's the gearbox like on these?

I've heard bad things about newer BMW's and @85K miles it may be ready to blow!
But like anything we may be only hearing about the few bad ones.

[Won]

I have a 2006 320d here. Bought 10 months ago at 170k km and now 210k km and counting. Still gives 4.8L/100Km (49 MPG) at "Autobahn speeds" and consumes no oil. Zero mechanical issues with the car. Suspension refresh is planned, all new dampers but bushes are OK for now. I did have to repair the wiring loom connecting the chassis to the tailgate (also an issue for sedans), it was a simple job for me but could cost a few €€€ if done by a shop. This is the loom that goes through a full fatigue cycle every time the hatch/bootlid/trunk is opened and closed. Wiggle it around to see if there are any broken/breaking wires. Otherwise, no issues with electronics either. The E9X generation wasn't so heavily loaded electronics-wise in my opinion, so not much to worry about there. For things like window regulators, virtually all E46 owned by my friends have a broken one (or more), so it's more age thing than anything else.

The E9x series was facelifted in the mid-2008 model year for Germany. Which one is it? In any case, 11k € actually seems to be on the low end of the market price for the year and mileage. Check mobile.de website for references.

Pre-facelift has M47TU2 (or M47N2) diesel which is an update of M47TU from E46 cars. From what I gather the biggest issue with this family, the swirl flaps, have been well-sorted in the TU2. I had the intake off to check for them, and found minimal carbon deposit around the flaps and also the EGR. The PO must have really driven it like a German I guess.

Facelift (or LCI in BMW lingo) also received a new engine, N47. Overall more efficient engine, but there seems to be some talk of timing chain issues. I think this is what Peterfrans is referring to. Keep in mind, that the 320d is the new "people's car" in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, so there are loads of them on the road and most of them are quite reliable.

Manual gearbox work fine, shifts like a BMW and tends to last. I believe all E9X cars still had the old school slushbox, so a little less efficient with potential torque converter issues, but then one would have to try hard to find an automatic around here.

Regarding the emissions requirement, generally speaking, diesel cars with only Euro4 and above emission standard are allowed in the cities currently, requiring the "green badge". This is not a problem for the E9X generation. There is a talk of upping this limit to Euro6 but considering how few cars actually meet this, I think we still have a few more years, at least, before having to worry about it.

Gratuitous shot:

[95avblm3]

Cars seem to be more expensive to purchase here in Germany than the states, so I wouldn't base whether the price is high or low on the US market. It's not an apples to apples comparo.

If 11k Euros is too much for the purschaser to stomach, try checking out The Beamerzone Home. They cater to US expats with good condition used BMWs from ~$5000-~$10000. They guarantee passing of inspection and offer a warranty. I have no affiliation with them but seriously considered buying from them and know a few folks who have with good results.

As for us, we bought a German-spec E39 520iT for $700 in need of some love. I rebuilt the cooling system, soiled oil leaks, refreshed some suspension components, put on new tires and have made it into a decent grocery go getter. The car owes us about $1800 all in and will comfortably cruise at autobahn speeds.

So, I guess my point is that this sounds like a good BMW your friend is looking at and perhaps the price isn't that bad but if he's only going to be there four two years, there are other options that will cost less.

[rattlsnak]

Thank you all for the responses and information. He will make that guy an offer but he mentioned it is worth it to him to pay a few hundred more to buy it from a fellow co-worker who he knows than from a total stranger for peace of mind purposes..

[Kraftwerk]

In Germany things hold their value, especially a used german car, it will have had very good expert maintenance most likely. In general the used market there is much different than here, even though there are no 'steals'. Diesel is the cheapest way to fuel up there.. unless electric is somehow subsidized now, so if he needs to travel a lot it might be cheaper overall to run a diesel.
last time I fueled there it was about $3 for a liter thats almost $12 a gallon !?
Yikes, take the train!

[sc_rufctr]

Used German cars? Is that because the Germans haven't taken to Korean cars?

The sale of Hyundai's locally has wrecked the second hand market. Why buy second hand when you can get a new car for the same money? (Regardless of quality)

Meanwhile in a few short years no cars will be made in Australia! Even Toyota are leaving.
There's a lesson in there for other countries.

[Won]

Filled up last night at 1.119€/L for diesel. It was around 1.46€/L for Super Duper Extra petrol = $7.42/US gal.

It was even worse living in the UK, take the Euro prices and just change the currency sign. But as always, you just learn to live with it. Don't like it? Be a bus wanker.

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Used German cars? Is that because the Germans haven't taken to Korean cars?

The sale of Hyundai's locally has wrecked the second hand market. Why buy second hand when you can get a new car for the same money? (Regardless of quality)

Meanwhile in a few short years no cars will be made in Australia! Even Toyota are leaving.
There's a lesson in there for other countries.

Actually, I see far more Hyundai's and Kia's than any other Asian brand cars running around here. Their European bases are in and around Frankfurt area, so a few of them are company cars, but still they seem quite popular alternative to the usual German options. Certainly price is a factor, but I also wonder if Hyundai has finally improved their image to the point where they are considered "cool" import cars, like the Honda scene in North America. I do work for them but I'm here for the "motorsport" part rather than the "Hyundai" part, so in the end I don't really care about how many they sell or who they sell to. I suppose it's good news for me when they sell more cars. I just thought there were other more important issues behind what's happening with the automotive industry in Australia.

Sensible cars seem to really hold their value in German used car market. By sensible, I mean reliable, fuel efficient and functional, which most German cars tend to be (not counting the ex-GM Opel). A good example would be a Mk4 TDI Golf or Wagon. It was absolutely shocking how expensive they still are, particularly the last two model years which get the green badge without retrofitting a DPF, and therefore are allowed in cities. For the same money as my car, I could have got a 330d, 325i or even a 330i, which is not common here unlike in NA where everyone and their dogs drive, but for nearly 50k km per year, it "made sense" to get the 320d, which apparently is the case for most people.

Sorry for the hijack!

[Won]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

Thank you all for the responses and information. He will make that guy an offer but he mentioned it is worth it to him to pay a few hundred more to buy it from a fellow co-worker who he knows than from a total stranger for peace of mind purposes..

Also he should check when the 2-year inspection Hauptuntersuchung or HU, or colloquially the TÜV, needs to be renewed. It would be best if he receives the car with a fresh one as it can be done early, and he won't have to worry about it during his time. If not, at least get it checked over by a garage for a pre-TÜV. Not because something could be particularly wrong with the car, but even normal wear and tear which could happen in between inspections could be a fail point.

[rattlsnak]

Thanks Won!